Magic: The Queen's Apprentice
by Apprentice - The Eye of Horus
Summary: ∆The Magician's Nephew∆ Along with waking up Jadis in the hall, Digory also woke her apprentice. Young Alta was raised by the power hungry Queen. Will she follow in her master's footsteps of evil? What will happen when she meets Aslan? Read on to find out
1. Chapter 1

Summary:

Along with waking up Jadis in the hall, Digory also woke her apprentice. Young Alta was raised by the power hungry Queen. Will she follow in her master's footsteps of evil? What will happen when she meets Aslan? Read on to find out!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you regnize from the renowned novel _The Magician's Nephew_ or anything else the mind of C.S. Lewis thought up first.

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**Prologue**

Narnia. A place where there are Beasts that walk on their hind legs, a place where animals talk, and above all: a place of freedom.

This adventure had begun long before Narnia had ever been heard of, or even created as of yet.

In a land known as Charn, there once lived a mighty and beautiful Queen. Queen Jadis. And under her rule, did all living things perish… save for one, that is.

When her home was destroyed and her family was killed, young Alta ran into the Queen. Jadis saw the special gift the young girl had: the rare gift of Magic. It was only small, and it would take much time to develop, but Jadis didn't care. All she wanted was more power on her side.

As the years passed, Alta did not age one bit, remaining the same, short seven-year-old she had been when Jadis found her. But the Queen did not care again. Alta was her apprentice, but more importantly, her servant.

When the day came to say the Deplorable Word, Jadis meant for all to die, even her young apprentice. But Alta's small bit of magic saved her under no apparent circumstances.

For the rest of her days in Charn, Alta spent her time sleeping like an image herself at the feet of her Queen and master in the hall where the images of Jadis's ancestors sat.

And this is where our story begins, when the nephew of a Magician and his friend stumble upon the broken world and struck the bell that changed everything…

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Hey everyone! This chapter's more of just a filler inner (yes, it is set in The Magician's Nephew), sorry it's so short!. The next one will introduce Alta a little bit more and will pretty much kick things up a knotch. Hope you all liked it. Short, sweet, simple. Review and tell me what you think!

∆Alta∆

Oh, and, anyone got an idea for the title?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer looked in wonder around the large room with hundreds of people, all of which were seated and were perfectly still. Like a house of wax figurines.

The clothes the figures had on were nigh indescribable, the colours, the patterns and pictures, and the precious stones that adorned nearly every inch of their persona.

The final figure was the most richly dressed, very tall, with a fierce and prideful look upon her face. And yet, she was very beautiful too.

There was a second figure in front of her, kneeling down with her head bowed, offering a golden bowl to the beautiful woman before her. The figure was a short young girl, hardly over the age of six or seven (or so Polly thought), with short curly hair a cobalt black. She wore no jewelry, nor anything to show a royal status, only a simple grey dress and stout leather slippers.

"How odd," Polly muttered, inspecting the girl slightly more closely.

"I do wish we knew the story that's behind all this," said Digory. "Let's go back and look at that table sort of thing in the middle of the room."

In the middle of the large room stood a pillar about four feet in height, with a golden arch that held up a little golden bell with a little golden hammer lying beside it. The pillar read:

_**Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;**_

_**Strike the bell and bide the danger,**_

_**Or wonder, till it drives you mad,**_

_**What would have followed if you had**_

This certainly sparked some interest in Digory's eye.

"No fear!" Polly exclaimed, turning to Digory. "We don't want any danger." She looked around quickly. She had the feeling someone was watching them, and yet that that someone was not there.

… … … …

Have you ever had the feeling that you're asleep, and yet not asleep? That is what it was like for the frozen form of Alta; asleep yet awake. The Queen had underestimated her Magic abilities (and so had Alta, come to think of it), so she could hear everything that was going on in this room. Which, up until recently, was dreadfully boring.

"Don't be silly!" the high pitched voice of a female said.

For the past few minutes, Alta had been intently listening in on the two new arrivals' conversation. They were arguing at this moment, about the curse upon the bell and all those sitting in the room.

_Ring it, oh please ring it!_ Alta thought, desperately wishing to send the message to either the male or female voice. (She did not yet know they were human, you see, for it is rather hard for one to see through one's own arm.)

After several minutes of annoying, yet thrilling, argument, the male voice (as far as she could tell from the scuffling) held the female back and finally gave the little gold bell a small tap.

Alta could feel the spell on her begin to lift off almost immediately, as the sweet note given off by the bell reached her.

Then, instead of dying out, the note proceeded to grow louder, and louder. Soon the stone beneath her feet begin to tremble. Alta began to move her fingers, and the golden bowl dropped from her small, very pale hands for the first time in what had seemed to be longer that a hundred centuries. (But it was impossible for one to tell when one is frozen/asleep for the whole time.)

A loud sound ––rather like a falling tree–– reached her pointed ears as she began to move her whole hand. Then, with a final sudden rush and thunder (and a shake that caused Alta to fall onto her side), nearly a quarter of the roof at one end of the vast room fell and the walls rocked. Soon the cloud of dust cleared away and everything became quiet once more.

The spell was broken on the last Queen of Charn, but more importantly (in another's point of view), Alta was at last free… for now.

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Sorry it took so long. Exams, school, projects... I have more excuses, but I don't feel like listing them. Thank you to all reviewers, your comments are very helpful. Thank you especially to quinthefikoso, who was kind enough to help me out with a title. Now, if you would be so kind as to review once more. Questions, or comments very muchly appreciated! REVIEW!

∆Eye of Horus∆


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

The two humans thought it was all over, a vital mistake on their behalf.

There was a soft noise from the end of the room that had been left unscathed, causing both Digory and Polly to spin around at a lightening speed to see what it was.

The robed figure at the furthest occupied chair ––the one with the girl in front of her–– was rising from her chair. When standing upright, both children realized she was even taller than they had imagined.

Looking around the room, she immediately took notice of the two, and with only a few long strides, she was in front of them.

"Who has awaken me?" she demanded. "Who has broken the spell?"

"I think it must have been me." Digory said.

Polly rolled her eyes at him and was about to say something, when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was the girl with dark black hair standing up carefully. One could now see her in greater detail.

She was by no means very pretty, but was rather short compared to the woman (but then again, who wasn't?), possibly a little bit shorter than Polly herself. Her face was long, with a strong chin and high cheekbones. Her grey eyes scanned the room around her in wonder before turning her final attention to the trio in front of her.

The young looking girl opened her mouth and said in a small, slightly high-pitched voice, "They came here by Magic."

"From another world," added Polly, wanting the Queen to finally take notice of her.

Instead, the Queen continued to look at Digory. "Is this true?"

"Yes, it is." He replied.

Both Polly and the girl watched as the Queen carefully studied the boy with a questioning eye.

"You are no magician. "The Queen finally said as she let go of his chin. "The Mark of it is not on you. You are merely a servant of a magician."

"It was my Uncle Andrew. "Digory said.

The floor began to shake as a piece of the masonry fell somewhere nearby.

"There is great peril here," said the Queen. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes, we shall be buried under the ruin."

The Queen soon had Polly's left hand and Digory's as she began leading them out of the Hall of Images into a long corridor.

Polly looked behind her to the black haired girl, and to her surprise, she was following them at a rather fast pace, even though her legs were considerably shorter than theirs were.

… … … …

Alta looked at the small male and small female with a questioning eye. She noted that they had rounded ears and that their clothes were like nothing she had ever seen before in Charn.

The boy seemed to be entranced by her master. All men were like that around her for some odd reason. But the girl looked like she just wanted to be noticed.

Alta stifled a giggle when she wriggled her toes for the first time in a long time. Jadis wouldn't have approved of her interrupting a conversation with important guests of the Hall. She almost felt – oh what was that word – happy? again. When the bell didn't die out, now that was a moment to be happy about for that was when Alta knew the Magic had been undone.

"There is great peril here," said Jadis. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes, we shall be buried under the ruin."

The young apprentice quickly grabbed the golden bowl from its place near a fallen piece of stone and almost ran to keep up with her master and the two children.

They were then led through a whole maze of halls and stairs and courtyards, the whole time the small girl always seemed to remain close behind.

Throughout the journey, the Queen told certain things as they went along. Like the dungeons, for instance.

"A terrible place," Alta couldn't help but whisper. She saw the young girl turn her head backwards a little, but stopped and continued to look straight, almost as if she had heard her.

The passage to the principal torture chambers was another.

"I've been there," Again, the girl twitched slightly.

And a story about the old banquet hall, where many people were brutally murdered.

"I was there," Instead of twitching, Alta watched as the girl shivered, as if she had just been hit with a cool blast of wind.

At last the group came into a hall much larger and loftier than any they had yet been in. The doors at the end were dead black and looked very hard to open.

Alta tilted her head to one side in wonder as the Queen let the boy's hand go and raised it out in front of her. She drew herself up to her full height and stood rigid. Then she said something the others couldn't understand, making a motion as if she were throwing something towards the doors.

The apprentice quickly clamped her hands over her pointed ears at the sound of the harsh words, though; all she really got out of doing so was a nasty bump on her head due to the bowl she was still holding in her hand.

The high doors quivered as if they were silk curtains and crumbled into a pile of dust on the threshold.

"This is what happens to things, and people, who stand in my way." Jadis said rather calmly, which was accompanied by a long-winded speech that Alta hung onto every word, even though she had been there herself, she looked up to Jadis though. When finally the last sentence of her speech came. "All in one moment one woman blotted it out forever."

"Who?" queried the boy in a faint voice.

"I," said the Queen. "I, Jadis, the last Queen, but the Queen of the World."

After a moment of silence, Jadis continued.

"It was my sister's fault, she drove me to it." She said. "When her armies came half way up these great stairs, that was when I said the Deplorable Word. A moment later, I was the only thing living under the sun –– well, except for a young girl, my apprentice for many years."

"Is that her?" questioned the girl, turning around to face Alta, who had a surprised look on her face.

Jadis whirled around quickly, getting a slightly wicked grin upon her perfect lips. "Why so it is. Alta, come here my child."

Alta came over obediently, looking over the other two with curious eyes.

"But the people?" the male said suddenly, coming back to the topic of Charn.

"What people, boy?" Jadis asked, the thought of Alta gone.

"All those who did you no harm," the girl replied.

"Do you not understand?" asked Jadis. "I was the Queen. They were my people. What else were they there for but to do my will? As a great Queen, the world's weight is upon my shoulders. Freed from all rules. A high and lonely destiny."

Alta continued to listen in on the Queen's rantings, oblivious in Jadis's mind. But when there came mention of another world, and an Uncle of supposed royalty, did Alta begin to creep closer in both wonder and of slight fear.

"Answer me: is that not how it was?" the Queen demanded.

Alta was now almost beside the boy now, as he said, "Well, not exactly."

"Not exactly?" the girl shouted, obviously out of frustration. "Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."

Alta cringed as the Queen cried out "Minions" and seized the girl's hair at the top of her head. The apprentice watched as both the girl and the boy shouted at each other then reached into their left pockets.

Just before the boy's finger brushed the yellow ring, he felt a strong, yet small hand, grip his arm. This was before the whole of that dreary world vanished from their eyes and they were rushing upward and a warm green light was growing overhead.

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Yeah! Another chapter up for yours truly. Hope everyone liked this chapter. Thank you to all those who reviewed, I feel so loved! Now, if you would be so kind as to review once more, it may encourage me to get another chapter up quickly or even give me inspiration for the next chapter. You never know. REVIEW!

∆Eye of Horus∆


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! You have no idea how sorry I am for not updating sooner. It's only been little over a month… Hehe… oops. Thanks a bundle for your review, Eathiln, and thank you al **20 **(give or take) other readers who did not care to review. Why only one? (sniff) Do you guys not like this story? Is it because it isn't set in LWW, and Alta isn't getting paired off with Peter, Edmund or Tumnus? Well, what if I was to tell you that there was a possibility of Alta getting paired off in the sequel? Eh, eh? Review and she might.

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**Chapter 3**

The water scared Alta; it was like waiting to drown, with the soft green light above her, and darkness below, wanting to swallow her whole.

All thoughts of panic rushed out of her mind, however, when her head broke the surface of the pool and into a sunny, quiet wood. Scrambling onto the grass as far away from the water as possible, the young apprentice finally let the boy out of her death grip and looked around in wonder.

For a moment, Alta forgot whom she was there with and why she was there. The only thought running through her mind at the moment was how badly she wanted to just lay down on the lush green grass and forget all her problems, while listening to the silence of the forest.

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when the girl appeared above the pool… with the Witch holding fast to her hair.

"Let go! Let go!" the girl screamed.

"I'm not touching you!" the boy responded, as if it were his fault she was screaming.

In a panic, Alta fumbled around in search for the golden bowl and sighed in relief when she found it right beside her and clutched it tightly to her chest.

She waited for Jadis to start yelling at her, when she noticed something different about her Queen. She was much paler than she had been; so pale that hardly any beauty was left. And she was stooped and seemed to be finding it hard to breathe, as if the air of the wood stifled her.

Out of curiosity, Alta tilted her head to one side and took a deep breath in –– nothing seemed wrong with the air to her.

"Let go!" the girl shrieked again. "Let go of my hair! What do you mean by it?"

Alta wanted to yell at the Queen too, but no matter how much courage the golden bowl gave her, she couldn't find the bravery to speak out against her master.

"Here!" the boy yelled, obviously rather brave. "Let go of her hair. At once!"

The two turned and struggled with her. Alta looked at the two in awe, never had she had that type of bravery or strength in anyone other than Jadis. The Witch reeled back, panting, and there was a foreign look of terror in her eyes.

"Quick, Digory!" the girl ordered.

_Aha, so his name in Digory… what an odd name._ Alta thought to herself, though she couldn't help but wonder two other things: 1) who in the world would have such a strange name for their child, and 2) what the girl's name was.

The apprentice's thoughts were interrupted, however, when the girl continued speaking. "Change rings and into the home pool!"

_Rings? _Alta looked at the girl, tilting her head in confusion. She slowly stood up and began creeping silently over towards the two

"Help! Help! Mercy!" cried Jadis in a faint voice, strangely out of character for the first time in nigh hundreds of years. "Take me with you. You cannot mean to leave me in this horrible place. It is killing me."

"Why is it killing you then?" Polly demanded. "Why isn't Alta dying too?"

The apprentice jerked her head up at the sound of her name. She had not meant to be the centre of the conversation, rather, just an observer.

Jadis turned her gaze to Alta. She opened her mouth to say something, but the flash of gold held within the young girl's grasp silenced her.

By this time, the two foreigners had green rings upon their fingers, when Digory seemed to have second thoughts. "Oh bother! What _are_ we to do?" he obviously couldn't help but feel sorry for the Queen.

Alta watched the two bicker. How amusing it was to watch them do so, and how glad she was that she was no longer the centre of attention. But they were taking too long to argue; the Witch was gaining her strength.

The girl suddenly ended the discussion by grabbing Digory's arm and dragging him over towards a marked pool of water.

_They're going to leave me with Her!_ Alta thought in a panic. Thinking quickly, the apprentice jumped up and leapt with the swiftness of a deer (how long had it been since she had seen one? she wondered), and took a hold of the girl's arm in her strong death grip.

Then they jumped.

The confused shapes of strange looking buildings came into view almost as soon as they entered the pool, and the beautiful world of the pools vanished. Alta began to feel scared, and clutched the bowl closer to her flat chest for comfort.

Soon, they were all standing in a room filled with shelves upon shelves of books, bottles and a wide variety of other assorted items. In front of the group was a man, tall and thin, with a long clean-shaven face, a sharply pointed nose, bright eyes and a great tousled mop of grey hair; he was staring at the form of the Witch, Jadis, as if she were the most beautiful thing on earth.

Alta let go of the girl and shrank back into the shadows of the room, as to not be seen.

The poor man bowed, rubbing his hands and looking rather frightened. Alta suppressed a gasp once she looked closer at his face. He had the Mark. The apprentice took this moment in time (which the others were silent) to think back to when Jadis had been unable to find the Mark upon her own face…

"I have taught you for one hundred years now and yet you still refuse to show the Mark of all Magicians!" Jadis screamed at her.

"_I'm sorry, I can't make it appear. I've tried to, honestly, I have." Alta pleaded, looking down at her feet. _

_Never before had she seen her Queen so angry. Prior to this moment in time, she had looked up greatly to Jadis for her kindness, her nobility, and her gift of Magic. Now, she still held her in high regard, but the poor girl was extremely frightened, and never again did she want to be yelled at. _

_Maybe there was something wrong with her, maybe she shouldn't laugh; Jadis never laughed, and she had the Mark. Maybe she hadn't been practicing enough; Jadis always practiced her Magic on those unfortunate enough to break a law. Maybe she should start doing that too…_

Alta's thoughts were broken when Jadis stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.2 

The two were now quarrelling about saying sorry, as though they didn't realized that Alta was still present in the room, or even there at all.

Digory finally yielded, "… There: I've said I'm sorry. And, now, do be decent and come back. I shall be in a frightful hole if you don't."

"Thank you." Alta said in a small voice, stepping carefully out of the shadows timidly.

The two whirled around to face her. "What?" they said in unison.

"I would like to say: Thank you, to the boy named… Dig-Ory."

Digory looked confused. "What ever for?"

"For ringing the bell. It broke the curse." She turned to the girl. "What is your name, I am afraid I didn't quite catch it."

"Polly Plummer."

Alta made a face. "You all have rather strange names."

"And you say that 'Alta' isn't strange?" Polly questioned, when in fact; she was quite fond of her name.

"Not where I am from." Words such as these felt so foreign to her tongue. After so many years, she could finally speak with freedom, and without fear of Jadis yelling at her for not having the Mark upon her. She wanted to laugh, and cry tears of joy, but she could not find a memory where such actions would be appropriate, and at the moment, they most certainly weren't.

"I should go." Polly said after several moments of silence. "I'll try and come back though." The girl then quickly disappeared through a tunnel at one end of the room.

Digory shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the pale, dark haired girl before him. "Umm, I should probably go and see what my uncle Andrew is doing."

"Who's he?" Alta questioned.

"My uncle."

"How interesting. I think I had an uncle at one point." The apprentice scrunched up her face in concentration.

"How could you not know?"

Alta looked sad. "I have not seen any member of my family since I was ten."

Digory couldn't help, but have his mouth hang open in disbelief. "How old are you?"

"I am not sure." The girl looked so distant, so young in innocent. "Are we going to see your uncle?"

He nodded. "Follow me." Digory then began walking quickly down a set of wooden stairs.

"Why are the stairs wood and not stone?" Alta questioned, surprised at her own boldness. "Is your family poor?"

"No, around here, all stairs and homes are wooden, even those who are rich." Digory replied. He glanced behind him as he all but ran down the stairs.

"Your world is so much different than Charn."

Digory opened door after door down a long hallway. "Polly nor I said anything about this being a different world…"

Alta shrugged as she entered the main staircase. "I can feel it in the air, there is something much different from my world, or the other world, and this world. Charn was dead, the Forest is a newborn, and this world is in between, yet it is missing something."

The two looked to the door just in time to see the front door close behind Jadis and Uncle Andrew.

"Jiminy!" he cried, earning a confused look from Alta. "She's loose in London. And with Uncle Andrew. I wonder what on earth is going to happen now."

Just then a maid (who seemed to be having a wonderful day) came practically skipping towards the duo. Alta managed to shrink into the shadows just in time as to not be seen. "Oh, Master Digory." The maid said. "I think Miss Ketterley's hurt herself somehow."

They both rushed into the drawing-room to find out what happened, with Alta creeping silently behind after them, though, she couldn't help but wonder what a Miss Ketterley was… and what an uncle was, for that matter too.

The 'Miss Ketterley' turned out to be a woman, obviously having been thrown at the wall by the Witch (Alta had seen it happen to other people, but never herself). She took charge of the situation immediately, giving out orders to the maid (Sarah) and to herself as well, though, Alta had no idea half the time what the woman was talking about!

Digory walked out of the doorframe and almost jumped a mile in the air when he saw Alta standing rather close to his right side, almost clinging onto him.

"What is a Mrs. Kirke? Is it like a Miss Ketterley? What is a police? Is the Ketterley referring Jadis to the 'dangerous lunatic'?" Alta bombarded him with questions, her large grey eyes overflowing with wonder.

He looked slightly confused for a moment, but then brushed all the questions off. "These rings seem to work like magnets…"

"What's a magnet? Are they the same rings that Polly was talking about?" Alta interrupted, following Digory around like a chick would to a mother hen.

"Do you ever be quiet?" Digory almost shouted. Alta shrank back and bowed her head, clutching the golden bowl even closer to her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, trying her best not to cry. _"A good Witch never shows emotion."_ Jadis's words echoed in her head. "It's just… I can talk all I want whenever Queen Jadis is not around without getting into trouble with Cook (before she was dusted). I thought… that maybe… you would not mind if I talked too."

Digory sighed. "I'm sorry too, but may I get back to explaining something?"

The apprentice nodded her head feverishly, her dark curled flying up and down as well. "I am rather skilled at being quiet, believe it or not."

"There are two rings the Uncle Andrew gave us; a green one and a yellow one. If I can only touch her and then slip on my yellow ring, we shall both go into the Wood between the Worlds."

Alta's eyes got as big as saucers. "Are you going to send me back to the Wood too?"

"Of course not! I mean, if you shan't want to, you can always stay here. You could live in the smugglers' cave, or… or…!"

"Are you not getting a bit ahead of yourself? Should we not go and see if Jadis is back yet, so I may be rid of her presence forever?"

Digory looked confused. "I thought you liked her."

Alta shook her head. "Nay, and I shan't think I ever shall again, either. She is a wicked Witch; I can see that now. Before, I had been blinded by her kindness, but never more, she shan't ever pull the Magic over my eyes again."

"Well then come on, we can watch for her and my Uncle Andrew in the dining room, you can see the front steps up to the door, and even up and down the street. We cannot miss her."

So the two rushed to the window of the dining room and waited.


End file.
